Replacing Deck Boards

Homebrewale

Old Mossy Horns
My deck is now 17 years old. It's made of treated wood. The deck is a 12x16 covered screened deck with a connecting 12x8 exterior exposed deck for my grill. The builder built it by building the whole deck and then adding the screened porch at one end. So the deck boards run under one wall of the screened porch. I have a few deck boards on the exposed part of the deck that I want to replace. That means I am going to need to cut the deck boards somewhere along their length in order to remove the section of deck board. How to do it? After doing a bunch of internet searching, I'm leaning towards the cutting the deck board flush with the joist, installing a nailing cleat/sister board to the joist and then installing the new deck board. Bless my builder, he was good at nailing the center of the deck boards. So if it were to make cuts at the center of the joist, I'd need to remove the old nails first. I won't have to with the nailing cleat method.

Here is a link to the description of the repair method. Click on arrows on Installation Tips.
http://www.familyhandyman.com/decks/replacing-deck-boards/view-all#step1

Is this an okay way of doing it? How would you do it?
 

bigten

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I would cut them flush, install the cleat boards with hangers and re-deck..
 

Bailey Boat

Twelve Pointer
If you use the cleat method you'll create an offset joint that doesn't agree with the other butt joints and it will be a focal point and attract attention. Remember to predrill the ends of your repair board to prevent splitting.
 

Homebrewale

Old Mossy Horns
If you use the cleat method you'll create an offset joint that doesn't agree with the other butt joints and it will be a focal point and attract attention. Remember to predrill the ends of your repair board to prevent splitting.

That won't be a problem. There are not any joints on the outside portion of the deck.
 

g3trappernc

Twelve Pointer
take a flush cut saw, or multi tool (vibrating saw) and cut the nails from below the deck boards. They sell the multi tools at Harbor Freight for about $39-$69 depending on the model and the blades it comes with. Once all of the nails are cut and the other nails are removed the boards should slide right out from under the screened enclosure.
 

Homebrewale

Old Mossy Horns
take a flush cut saw, or multi tool (vibrating saw) and cut the nails from below the deck boards. They sell the multi tools at Harbor Freight for about $39-$69 depending on the model and the blades it comes with. Once all of the nails are cut and the other nails are removed the boards should slide right out from under the screened enclosure.

Two issues I see. First is that my deck is about 2' off the ground. I hate crawling under there. Actually, I can't even crawl. I have to roll like a log.

Second issue is that the one board I really want to remove is under the corner where two walls of the screened porch meets. So even if I cut all the nails, the only direction it could possibly slide is away from the screened porch. The problem is that direction is also blocked by the spindles to the handrail around the deck. Maybe I should take a photo in the morning.
 

bigten

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I have not been down to Home Depot yet but I do recall there are all kinds of hangers there. Any particular one that would work best?

The simple U shape hangars that wrap your joist ends and attach to the band. I use screws to attach. Get them to fit your wood, ie: 2X6/2X8.
 
Last edited:

brownisdown

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
The simple U shape hangars that wrap your joist ends and attach to the band. I use screws to attach. Get them to fit your wood, ie: 2X6/2X8.
I'm pretty sure he is trying to replace just the decking boards and not the floor joists so I doubt the hangers would benefit him.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 

Homebrewale

Old Mossy Horns
I'm pretty sure he is trying to replace just the decking boards and not the floor joists so I doubt the hangers would benefit him.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Yes, one decking board in particular. I'm planning to also strip off the current stain. When I do, I may find a board or two that I may also want to replace. Looking at the deck this morning, I may limit it to the step boards and one deck board.
 
Last edited:

bigten

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I'm pretty sure he is trying to replace just the decking boards and not the floor joists so I doubt the hangers would benefit him.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

In the original post he described wanting to replace the decking boards but has a wall over the joint. I am referring to installing cleat boards to support the replacement deck board ends right at the lower edge of the wall. I would install hangars on them for better support than trusting angled toenails with having parallel support cleats, not the joists themselves. Maybe I misunderstood his scenario and issue??
 
Last edited:

Homebrewale

Old Mossy Horns
Here is the outside portion of my deck. I'm standing at the top of the stairs that goes down to the back yard. To the right of the grill is the end of the deck with a handrail. To the left of the deck is a wall to the screened-in section of the deck. The deck boards run right under that wall. In only two places is there a joint where two deck boards meet.



Now standing by my grill, here is a photo looking towards the stairs. The first two top short boards are the boards that make up the top step. The next board from the top is the first long board that is part of the overall deck. If you look at the left edge, there is a chunk of wood missing. My wife wants the board replaced. That same board runs to the right and goes under the wall to the screened porch. Somewhere around that stick on the deck is one of the joists. You can see the nail holes. I was thinking of cutting the deck board either at that joist or the next one to the left of it or maybe even one more to the left. Since the board needing replaced isn't full width, I'd also need to rip it lengthwise.

 

g3trappernc

Twelve Pointer
Pop the spindles off and nail them back on after you replace the boards. I still think cutting the nails from the bottom is the way to go.


Two issues I see. First is that my deck is about 2' off the ground. I hate crawling under there. Actually, I can't even crawl. I have to roll like a log.

Second issue is that the one board I really want to remove is under the corner where two walls of the screened porch meets. So even if I cut all the nails, the only direction it could possibly slide is away from the screened porch. The problem is that direction is also blocked by the spindles to the handrail around the deck. Maybe I should take a photo in the morning.
 
Top